Undercover Gourmet

As the winter months seem never ending in Alberta, one sure fire way to keep warm and cozy is to hot pot. A very popular form of Chinese style eating, hot pot is the Eastern version of fondue. Perfect for group gatherings, a hot pot can serve 6 people, or more, comfortably with very minimal labor involved for the host, because your guests cook for themselves! Here are some useful hot pot essentials including equipment and simple tips:

1)      Purchase a butane burner. Sold at most Asian grocery markets around Edmonton, such as Lucky 97 and T&T, a butane burner will keep a much more stable rolling boil for your pot of soup versus an electrical stove top. You also prevent accidents with loose cords. Keep a back-up butane gas cartridge just in case dinner lasts longer than expected.

2)      Proper utensils and sanitation is important here. Make sure each guest has 2 sets of everything – one for cooking and one for eating. I don’t want to sound like a sanitation freak, but by preventing cross contamination of raw and cook foods, you of course will minimize the accusations for food poisoning. Chopsticks and wire spoons are most effective. If you don’t want to spend money on wire spoons, slotted spoons will suffice.

3)      Be familiar with doneness and cooking times. Use common sense when cooking your foods. Chicken takes longer to cook than pork or beef. If you’re worried about something being underdone, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and cook it a couple minutes more. Avoid adding too many items into the pot at once. The large volume of food will naturally lower the temperature of your broth, thus causing wait time for the soup to return to a boil. The enjoyment of hot pot is to eat slowly and take in the company!

4)      If possible, offer a spicy and non-spicy broth base. Diluted chicken or fish stock easily does the trick. To spice things up you can purchase soup base with a kick, or tweak your own using chilli powder or chilli oils. Divided pots are available.

5)      Condiments. If you’re worried about a bland soup base, a variety of sauces will cover that right up. Here are some typical ones:

1. Soy Sauce – a staple in Chinese cuisine
2. Sambal Chili Paste – one of the best chilli sauces around. The hotness level is moderate with a slight tang, and has texture from the chilli seeds
3. Hoisin Sauce – great for beef balls or sliced meat
4. Raw Egg – this may be for your more advanced hot pot guests. It’s common to scramble up a raw egg with some soy and Sambal sauce. By placing the steaming hot food into the dipping bowl, you begin to cook some of the egg, but understandably, is not for everyone

6)      Pre-sliced meat. T&T offers a nice selection of meats from beef, to pork, to chicken, to lamb. No work required except for removing the plastic wrapper. Make sure to defrost if purchased frozen.

7)      Fish balls and cakes are another flavourful choice. Typically found in the frozen section of your Chinese grocer, they cook relatively quick and are ready when they float to the surface.

8)      Veggies such as lettuce or bok choy and/or vermicelli noodles. Save these for last because after all the meats are cooked, either of these will soak up all the flavours from the broth. They are also lighter so your guests don’t feel overwhelmed by the amount of food.

You can make a hot pot dinner as plentiful or as scarce as you desire. These tips are to cover all grounds, but there are no set rules to the kinds of meats and condiments you offer. The beauty of this style of meal is you can cater to your guests with minimal work. Create a vegetarian dinner by simply changing the type of stock, or focus on beef by purchasing a variety of cuts. The possibilities are endless. If you’ve never hot potted before, I’m most certain you will be the talk of town once you’ve introducing this to your friends and family. Enjoy and stay warm this winter!

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The holiday season is just around the corner, and for those who still need to slave away at a full-time job, take the kids school, clean the house, feed the dogs, go to yoga etc. when it comes to entertaining, the easier the better. Even though we look for easy solutions, we don’t want our guests to think they have been served pre-made foods from M&M Meat Shops! Here are a few tips that add a gourmet touch without the gourmet techniques:

1)      Flavored Oils – an excellent way to add subtle flavors to the simplest dishes. Costco has a beautiful, but very poorly designed, package by an Australian brand called Gourmet Lovers. For $19.49 you get 4 bottles of extra virgin olive oil infused with Lemon & Orange, Rosemary & Oregano, Chili, and Garlic. Throw together a simple salad of mesclun greens, red onions, tomatoes, fresh bocconcini with a drizzle of rosemary and oregano flavored oil. Or brush the oil onto slices of French baguette or pita bread before toasting it in the oven. It will add an enticing fragrance to otherwise plain bread.

2)     Phyllo Dough– I used to be scared of phyllo dough. Yes it’s fragile, yes it tears easy, and yes you have to work quickly with it, but in the end all these paranoid miniscule mistakes are covered up by each successive layer of dough. I love that almost anything, from savory to sweet, can be wrapped in phyllo and baked in the oven, but my favorite (and easiest) hors d’œuvre is Brie wrapped in phyllo. Buy a wheel of Brie, wrap it in about 4-6 sheets of phyllo (depending on how much pastry you prefer) brushed with melted butter, place in the oven and when the dough turns golden brown you have an elegant looking appetizer. Serve with sliced baguette, jalapeño jelly and voila! For dessert, place a dollop of jam or pie filling with chopped chocolate, toasted nuts or shredded coconut, wrap in triangles and bake. Frozen phyllo dough can be found at most grocery stores.

3)      Dips– a must-have condiment at any dinner party. Try to offer a variety such as hot, cold, creamy or chutney (salsa, tapenade). Avoid dips from large grocery stores like M&M Meat Shop and Sobeys, and head towards the Farmers Market. Not only can you taste what you are purchasing, but it has a homemade touch to it. I recommend The Happy Camel and Dip-Sea Chicks, both are located at the Old Strathcona Farmers Market.

4)      Charcuterie– there is nothing wrong with serving sausages, pâtés, cured meats and head cheese, as long as it is good quality. The Italian Centre is an excellent starting point where they even offer party platters at the deli counter. If you have a local butcher, that’s even better.

Entertaining can be stressful, and not many of us see it as therapeutic relief. Remember that sometimes simplicity is bliss, and not everything has to be incredibly fancy or over-the-top. Beware of any food allergies your guests may have, and never bite off more than you can chew. Your friends and family will appreciate whatever you put on the table, and the last thing they want to see is a stressed out host or hostess. Happy entertaining!

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If you have an apple tree in your backyard bursting with sweet red apples, this recipe is a perfect way to utilize them. This crisp is incredibly simple to make and is a perfect dessert for the fall season. Adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook.

Procedure:

1)  Place rack in middle of oven and preheat to 375°F

2)  Lightly butter a 4 quart baking dish

3)  Topping: combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, salt in food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms large clumps (for added texture, work in chopped pecans by hand after pulsing in food processor)

4)  Filling: whisk together sugar and cinnamon in large bowl. Peel, quarter and core apples. Cut into ½”thick slices. Add apples and lemon juice to sugar mixture. Toss until well combined

5)  Spread apples in baking dish. Crumble topping evenly over. Bake until topping is golden brown, about 1 hour. Cool to warm before serving

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I love fresh oysters. The taste, the texture, the refreshing feeling it gives after each slurp, how it reminds me of the ocean… I love everything about them. You don’t have to go to a posh restaurant and shell out big bucks to enjoy these luxurious mollusks. A trip to Billingsgate or Fin’s Seafood in Sherwood Park can allow to you eat like a prince (or a princess), at a pauper’s wage… well almost, Billingsgate sells for $14.99/dozen. Superstore in South Common also recently started selling live seafood (selection varies daily).

Oyster Shucker

There are a couple of very useful tools that will make shucking easier and safer: 

#1 an oyster shucker 

#2 a sturdy kitchen towel 

Do NOT use a knife in place of the oyster shucker, as stabbing yourself is almost inevitable!  

Begin by scrubbing the oysters well under water, and nestle them on a plate of crushed ice.  

Place the oyster, bumpy side down, on a folded kitchen towel.  

Align the top of the shucker knife to the hinge of the oyster.  

Fold towel over to secure oyster.    

Hold the oyster steady with one hand, and gently push knife into hinge until you feel the knife slide in slightly   

Twist knife until hinge pops open  

Insert knife all the way, running it along the upper half of the shell  

Lift up upper half of shell, scraping off any attached flesh.  

Run the knife underneath the oyster to detach the muscle.  

Be sure to reserve as much of the liquid, also known as oyster liquer, as possible. It’s the best part!  

Now you are ready to eat! If desired, serve with a little bit of lemon juice or Tobasco sauce, otherwise fresh oysters are delicious on its own!  

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This version is dense, rich and ever so delicious. No sour cream, no cottage cheese, just a lot of cream cheese (and a little bit of heavy cream)! Of all the New York cheesecake recipes, this one brings me closest to the bakeries of New York. The filling is heavy but flaky at the mercy of a fork. No fancy flavorings, no lavish decorations, only plain cheesecake at its humblest. Be sure to let all ingredients, especially the cream cheese, to sit until room temperature, and stop the stand-mixer to scrape frequently will prevent lumps. I prefer to use vanilla bean paste due to the visible little specks of vanilla, however extract works just as well. Adapted from William Sonoma – New York.

For the Crust:

5 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted                

1 ½ cups Graham Cracker Crumbs            

2 Tbsp Sugar      

For the Filling:

1.25kg Cream Cheese   

2 cups Sugar

1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour

2 Eggs + 1 Yolk

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream    

1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

1)      For the crust, preheat oven to 350°F. Generously spray or butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

2)      In a bowl, combine melted butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Stir until crumbs are evenly moistened. Transfer crumb mixture to pan and press evenly along bottom and sides. Bake until crust is slightly dried out, about 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

3)      For the filling, place cream cheese in large bowl. Using a stand mixer (or electric mixer) on high, beat until smooth, about 5 minutes. In another bowl, combine sugar and flour. Add to the cream cheese and beat until well blended, stopping frequently to scrape down sides of the bowl. Add eggs and yolk, one at a time, scraping down sides of the bowl after each addition. Add cream and vanilla and beat until combined. Pour mixture into prepared crust.

4)      Bake until cheesecake is set and center is slightly jiggly, 80-90 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. Allow to cool on wire rack, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

5)      Using a small pairing knife, run around edges of pan before unclasping. To cut the cheesecake, run a thin-bladed knife under hot water and wipe dry before each cutting into wedges. Serve chilled.

Yield: 8-10 servings

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When the snow starts to melt, Edmontonian’s know it’s their cue to fire up the BBQ (if you haven’t already been barbequing all winter!). This easy recipe is perfect for everything on (and off) the Barbie from burgers to steaks to a simple toasted baguette. I especially love to dollop a heaping spoonful on my steak. The flavors are so robust I find that the steak itself doesn’t even need to be seasoned or marinated. Adapted from William Sonoma – New York.

1. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt butter with olive oil. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally until tender and translucent, about 10-15 minutes. If onions begin to brown, reduce heat.
2. Stir in vinegars, brown sugar, and 2 Tbsp of water. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the onion mixture has a jam-like consistency, 15-20 minutes.
3. Add more water if onions are sticking to the pan. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Yield: ½ cup onion jam (about 2 steaks)

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